A letter from Bishop SlatteryCountering with Prayer the proposed Black Mass in Oklahoma CityMy Dear People:As has been widely reported, a Satanic Black Mass has been scheduled for September 21 in Oklahoma City’sCivic Center. As a part of Satanic worship, a Black Mass attempts to invert the action and meaning of theEucharist in order to mock Christ’s sacrifice and worship Satan through an orgiastic ritual of pain and perversion.It blasphemes everything which we hold as sacred and redemptive; and the spiritual dangers it posesought not be dismissed. Since the Civic Center has not responded positively to the pleas of the Archbishop ofOklahoma City not to host this event in a tax-payer supported public venue, I am asking the faithful Catholicsin the Diocese of Tulsa to fight this blasphemy through prayer and fasting:1) Please keep the nine days prior to the Feast of the Assumption as an extraordinaryperiod of prayer and penance. I am asking every Catholic to abstain from all meat and meatproducts from August 6 through the 14th. I am also asking that you consecrate your hunger with adaily recitation of a decade of the rosary and the familiar Prayer to Saint Michael. Printed copies ofthese prayers are available in the bulletin and at the entrances of the church. Be strong and encourage yourfriends to also be strong.2) On Assumption Day, August 15th, we will ask Our Lady on her Feast, to intercede for us andprotect us. On that day I in the Cathedral, and every priest in his own parish, will pray a specialprayer written by Pope Leo XIII for the defense of the Church against the attack of the Enemy andhis apostate angels.3) Should these prayers and this period of fasting not effect the cancellation of this event, then I willask every priest in the Diocese to conduct a Eucharistic Holy Hour on September 21 at the same time(7:00 p.m.) as this profanity is being celebrated in Oklahoma City. Wherever possible, I ask thatEucharistic Processions - especially outdoor processions - be arranged as part of these holy hours. Letus give a public witness to our faith in the Eucharist which is being so profoundly mocked andridiculed by this event.From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord!Sincerely yours in Christ,Most Rev. Edward J. SlatteryBishop of Tulsa

Deus
Caritas Est. Posted by Supertradmum. I have another series from last
year on this fantastic encyclical. But, as it is the week of Valentine's
Day, I want to emphasize real love. We have seen that God's eros for
man is also .

Continuing
the discussion on Deus Caritas Est, I am reminded that just in the past
few days, the Pope asked for a review of Caritas, the umbrella Catholic
charity, as some of the things being supported are not in keeping
with ...

Deus
Caritas Est. Posted by Supertradmum. I have another series from last
year on this fantastic encyclical. But, as it is the week of Valentine's
Day, I want to emphasize real love. We have seen that God's eros for
man is also ...

Dt
8:3) − a conviction that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that
is specifically human.” (Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, December 25,
2005, n. 28). My mini-series on socialism and Deus Caritas Est may be
found on the ...

Although
the Cardinal concentrates on St. John Paul II's Ecclesia de Eucharistia
and on the Pope Emeritus' Sacramentum Caritatis, he covers other
authors as well. He also examines Deus Caritas Est, mostly likely my
favorite ...

The
encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, moves one's thoughts from eros, to agape,
to caritas. Now before I continue, I would like to emphasize that all
of this movement is one of the heart. The conversion of a heart to
Christ changes ...

And,
here is the link to Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Deus Caritas Est as
a little valentine for all on the blog-a link and some photos of
beautiful English roses. For God so loved the world, as to give his only
begotten Son; that ...

...
Charles I-fascinating and timely. Deus Caritas Est, third time found
here, btw
http://www.catholic.org/clife/publications/b16_encyclical_godislove.pdf.
Paper on Suarez, because I do not have his books with me found here

A
sign of caritas in the soul, mind and heart. Posted by Supertradmum.
Matthew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your
neighbour and hate your enemy.' 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies
and pray ...

For the sake of a reader, I have selected this from one of the posts on entertainment:

I have shared on this blog the great insight of Thomas Merton on the
biggest danger of television-that the passivity which one approaches tv
is the aspect, the gift of the mind and soul for passive prayer. The
television takes over this part of the human soul and mind and perverts
the natural course of learning to be passive in the Presence of God."I
am certainly no judge of television, since I have never watched it. All
I know is that there is a sufficiently general agreement, among men
whose judgment I respect, that commercial television is degraded,
meretricious and absurd. Certainly it would seem that TV could become a
kind of unnatural surrogate for contemplation: a completely inert
subjection to vulgar images, a descent to a sub-natural passivity rather
than an ascent to a supremely active passivity in understanding and
love. It would seem that television should be used with extreme care and
discrimination by anyone who might hope to take interior life
seriously." (86) Seeds of ContemplationThink
of this--that the capacity for contemplation, the capacity which God
created in each person for an intimate relationship with Him, has been
perverted by television and other passive forms of entertainment.
God created us for Himself, and we must protect our imaginations, minds,
souls, bodies from the pollution of false ideals which flood into us
through all types of entertainment.

I am not on facebook and have shut down my twitter account. I shall miss my twitter friends, especially the ones I only meet on twitter. But, move on I must.

Twitter is important for political reasons, but not really for religious reasons. There are some readers overseas who benefit from twitter, but most know how to find this blog, now.

I know the sites as to where to get news.

But, the main reason is that I am going to concentrate on fewer topics on this blog.

Fr. Z, THE blogger, can keep you all updated on the day to day Catholic life in America and even abroad. Rorate Caeli also is good, and there is Zenit, and LifeSiteNews, as well as SPUC. I also recommend The Big Pulpit and The Catholic Herald, from Great Britain.

If you all want real news, go to foreign sources. Use Drudge.

I think that my readers can move around the net as easy as I can and keep up.

My blog has mostly been on spiritual growth, on teaching people the Faith, and how to think like Catholics. Education has always been my calling.

But, like an decent college professor, who is honest, one must concentrate on a few things to be really effective.

And, as the Gates of Mordor are opening and spewing out the armies of evil in so many ways and so many lands, time is even getting shorter. I act while I have the light. But, even the Armies of the Men of the West had to reconsider what to do before the Black Gates.

One must stop and act strategically.

I am not ready to give up the blog, although the time will come when, of course, I shall. I shall know when that is, just as I knew clearly when to start, when to stop, and when to start again. I shall know when to move on, but not yet. Part of doing this blog is that I love the Church so much, and Christ, the Bridegroom, that I want to share the Truth of the majesty of the Church's teaching, and the love of Christ.

I love my readers. I love teaching and sharing the Faith. I am a natural teacher and a writer.

If I could, I would write essays for another site, not my own. But, God has blessed this blog.

So, continue to pray for me to use this platform for the New Evangelization, which I take seriously.

Many of my readers are re-verts and converts. Some are not Catholic, but are interested in the Faith.

St. Paul wrote even under house arrest. And, as you who follow me know, I feel like a "stranger in a strange land." I look to St. Paul for help in my life, as he leads all of us to act as the Church Militant. Remember, the Church Militant includes priests, nuns, monks, sisters, lay persons. St. Paul was a rabbi who became a Catholic priest, spreading the Gospel, founding churches, and finally, dying for the Faith. More than any other apostle, I see him as a model for our mobile times.

Keep praying, please. I still do not think that most Catholics understand how little time we have left for freedom of the press, freedom of speech.

Parents, review my posts on Common Core. If you are sending your child to a school which has adopted this, you may have to answer to God for putting your children in the big brother data base, condemning them to certain persecution in the future.

If you read the series on code-breakers, some of you will recognize another category, which one of my spiritual directors called that of the "catalyst".

In 1980, I was told by my then spiritual director, a Jesuit, that I was a catalyst. Now, I did not want to be a catalyst, nor do I still want to be a catalyst, but I am.

But, a catalyst "does" very little. This person is a conduit of God's mercy and grace. Why, I do not know. Catalysts make things happen to other things. Now, two points, "a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction" and "they may be inhibited, deactivated, or destroyed by secondary processes". (wiki)

The inhibitors are evil things, like horrible sins, demons, etc.

One just lives and things happen. According to the wiki article, catalysts are noted symbolically by the letter "z". I do not remember my chemistry, taken in a class so long ago, but this is interesting.

In a general sense,[16] anything that increases the rate of a process is a "catalyst", a term derived from Greekκαταλύειν, meaning "to annul," or "to untie," or "to pick up."

Spiritually, to untie reminds me of Our Lady the Untier of Knots. And, to annul also means not actively untying but just quietly watching things wash away.

Some people like catalysts and some do not. I shall write more about this later.

I have written many times on the confusion in some circles as to the terms "meditation" and
"contemplation". Sadly, even some priests and nuns or sisters, who mean well, and are teaching about prayer, get these types of prayer confused.

I shall outline the differences one more time here. Look at the perfection series and tags marked as below for more posts.

The reason why the distinctions are important is not academic, but rooted in the reality of where a person is in the walk with God.

First of all, meditation is the taking of a Scripture passage and using the active imagination to enter into the Life of Christ. St. Ignatius and other saints taught this method. Meditation for the Catholic must be centered on the Incarnation, and not on anything else, above all, not one's self.

Second, there are two types of contemplation, which can be examined in greater depth through the tags.

The first type is "active contemplation", where one puts one's self in the Presence of God, such as before the Eucharist in the Monstrance and one becomes quiet and focused. In active contemplation, one may contemplate on the Attributes of God, and not on the Scriptures. One is reflecting without the aid of anything else. Again, one can follow the tags to the posts on the Attributes of God.

I do not recommend setting a stage for active contemplation, as one should move beyond the externals.

For example, some teachers insist on active contemplation being done with candles or other symbols.

I strongly recommend only the Crucifix if anything. Why? Because when one practiced active contemplation, one can do it anywhere...in a bus station, or in a train.

One merely needs to go into one's little cell of the mind and heart.

The third type of prayer is "infused contemplation" or "passive contemplation", which is totally a gift from God. One cannot "do" this by will. God comes to the person, either in a very short period of time, or longer times. This is not the same as ecstasy, which is the complete taking over of all the senses and soul in God. Infused contemplation would be happening in the unitive state, or in the later stages of the illuminative state.

I am still concerned, after years of addressing this, that there is confusion. One must follow the stages in the normal course of events. Can God intervene and lead someone directly to infused contemplation? Of course, but that person would be one of extreme purity of heart, mind, and soul.

Do not use these terms in a lax manner. Some priests and nuns or sisters confuse those who come to prayer workshops, or at retreats by mixing up the terms. In the Catholic Church, we have been given a long history of spiritual writings back to the Gospels and Epistles on these types of prayer.

Be careful not to be deceived about these types of prayer. The purity of the pray-er determines the type of prayer. If one is a beginner, meditation grounds one in the Incarnation, which is good.

If one is involved in active contemplation, one has learned how to get rid of extraneous noises and thoughts and focus on Christ and the goodness of God. Contemplation finally leads to the Prayer of Quiet, another misunderstood level, which, if one looks at the posts against Quietism, is not that, but the taking over of the senses and spirit by God, when one is led into the quiet garden of His love.

It is the interior life of the person which determines the level of prayer. In other words, the exterior follows the interior.

Too many people still are confused on the terms, which is why I prefer Garrigou-Lagrange and St. John of the Cross, who are, in my opinion, the clearest on these levels.

In passive contemplation, Christ takes over, even for a few minutes. One knows the difference once one has experienced this.

Some people are brought into passive contemplation when reading, or even listening to music, but it is the Will and action of God, not one's self.

Infused knowledge of the Scriptures can come at all three stages: meditation, active contemplation, and passive contemplation.

Those young saints who were pure of heart, body and soul experienced the higher levels of prayer. Age has nothing to do with it. There are some older people, even elderly, who are still beginners, only saying vocal prayers and not attempting meditation. Sadly, they have been taught, incorrectly, that only nuns, sister, monks and priests do this sort of thing.

So, there are two extremes of faulty teaching: one that the laity should not attempt the levels of prayer, which is against the teaching of the Church; and, two, the sloppiness of definitions which not only confuse people but can lead to deceit.

The devil disguised as an angel of light and watching us daily, carefully, can make one deceived as to the real level of prayer one is attaining. Without the corresponding purification, one is not "otr" to the higher levels or prayer.

And, God wants all to finally come without intermediaries-without other saints or writers, but in the intimate relationship He desires us all to come into through the seeking of perfection.

Leon Bloy

Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma

The Church Must Not Be Defensive

click here

Too many Church leaders do not think, or do not think as Catholics

click here

GUILD PRAYER

God our Father, source of life and freedom, through Your Holy Spirit you gave the Carmelite, Titus Brandsma the courage to affirm human dignity even in the midst of suffering and degrading persecution.

Grant us that same spirit so that, in refusing all compromise with error we may always and everywhere give coherent witness to Your abiding presence among us.